We warned you.

We warned you the Tom Brady rumors would get crazy during this Rookie Combine Week in Indianapolis and bounce off the walls, running into each other in the outer space regions of social media, etc.

Some are due to media members wanting to make big names for themselves, others are logical conjecture, and others are people who heard from people who know people who heard from people.

We really won’t know. But one thing to keep an eye on is the NFL collective bargaining agreement. That’s a huge deal that will dictate player movement.

If you were an NFL player, from what you’ve heard, would you vote for it? For a mid round draft choice in his first two or three years, it makes sense. It’s close to a $100,000 raise. With the career span of the average NFL player lasting just three or four years, you can certainly bet those players will say yay when the rank and file has its official vote.

And that will likely be enough to carry the vote. Thus the NFL owners, who forced this thing to be be decided over a year early than it had to be so they could negotiate new TV contracts.

And the players fell for it.

They’re losing out on way more dollars, because the league will make way more. Player safety? Yeah, adding a regular season game (that you know will eventually be two) and taking away a playoff bye for second seeds is really going to help with that, right?

The extra playoff round was likely coming whether a new deal was in place or not. That’s too bad. The NFL doesn’t need more playoff teams. Neither does Major League Baseball. Pro sports leagues need to stop watering down regular seasons just to make more dollars. We feel the same way about high school sports as well.

The NFL players will likely vote in a couple of weeks, once all the information is assembled and distributed. Word is Indy has been more quiet than normal with the rumor mill because of the wait on the CBA .

Why? Because all those involved need to know what the rules are. In Brady’s situation, there would likely be all sorts of manipulation with the years in any Patriots offer. Lots of things are on hold.

Meanwhile, remember, a lot of the Brady reports you hear are being generated by one camp or the other. Posturing. The real time will be the week leading up to the March 16-18 free agency period.

Meanwhile keep an eye on what the combine has looked like. The Patriots as we repeatedly have said need to get younger and faster. We told you Mohammed Sanu’s sudden drop to nothing was because he was injured; he could likely be a cut if the rules remain the same. Don’t pay attention to any social media salary cap related cut projections until a new deal is reached.

If the players/NFLPA say nay – which they should but most likely won’t – then the current rules continue and then all the

drama would take place next year with that. The owners won’t be happy.

It’s all added up to an NFL off-season unlike any other. Again, this week should have been about the potential draft picks, and we’ll see who turned heads when NFL coaches and general managers comment on their draft picks at the end of April, talking about what they saw in Indy.

And now, let the real March Madness begin.

Tom King may be reached at 594-1251,tking@nashuatelegraph.com, or@Telegraph _TomK.

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